After World War II there was a great divide between western democracy and the eastern communism. It seemed that the world had become split into two powerful sides, and that a great divide had split them. As Churchill stated in his famous speech “Sinews of Peace,”
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.”
Both sides feared the other was seeking world domination. Soviets saw the Marshal plan as an attempt by the United States to transform Europe to an economic dependent of the U.S. and responded by authorizing a communist coup in Czechoslovakia. The U.S., fearing the Soviets had aims at world domination, lived in an environment of fear that allowed “Red Scare” tactics like those implemented under McCarthyism. In Russia the feelings were mutual. The U.S. was seen as a power with aims at dominating their own sphere of influence.
Most historians today agree that neither side had aims of world domination in mind, it was the fear of the “other” that pushed them to close off themselves and create and live in a caricaturized society in which personal liberty was suffocated on both sides and the resources of the respective governments were implemented to create mass arsenals of weapons which would never be used.
In an age of religious extremist and with western civilization shifting into a post-Christian society those of us who find themselves within the confines of a Christian tradition can sometimes be frightened by all the changes in the world today. It often seems as if civilization has embarked upon a slippery slope in which the values many Christians hold will no longer be the norm of the society around them.
In response to this the church has begun a cold war of its own. It’s created sanctions on culture, and has tried to create alternatives of every element of pop-culture. It spans from pop divas and punk rock, to romance novels. It seems that no matter what you’re into God has a version of his own with its own slant that espouses some form of Christian doctrine.
The Church has even created its own versions of science, history, and politics.
The problem with this world is it reflects a reality that just isn’t there, and diminishes the ability of the Christian consumer to communicate with the outside world.
I just watched a video of Haggard and Dawkins talking about the issues of Evolution, and it seemed to me that Haggard had no idea what was actually going on in the world of science, but had only been in contact with many of the Christian sources that many of you are undoubtedly familiar with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uokV7UdGW_s
I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus holds the key to making this world a better place, and that a life in him is the only kind of life I want to live, but we can’t really talk about Jesus to the world in an effective way if we are completely outside of it.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul states,
“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
Should we not follow his example? The Cold War is widening the Gap between Christ and the World. If we want to bring God’s kingdom here today, we need to be here today facing the real issues of the world.
The church has no power as long as it insists on plunging its head into the sand and pretending that all the scary liberals will go away.
The World has changed and we must learn to move forward with them. By promoting ignorance instead of attentiveness we emasculate ourselves. If the church really wants to be a force in this world we need to begin to listen to the reasons why things are shifting. Western Civilization isn’t trying to bring down the church they’ve simply been let down by the church.
Jesus death tore the curtain that separated God from the world. Why have we created our own “Iron Curtain” to keep God away from the world again? It needs to come down. The people in our communities are not our enemies, they are simply people just like us and I know I want to be a part of their lives, it’s there that I can let the love of Christ shine through me.
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